Sky refuses to air BT's multimillion pound Premier League ad campaign

UK BROADCASTER Bskyb is refusing to air rival BT's multimillion pound ad campaign to promote its upcoming Premier League football coverage, and claims it is being "entirely reasonable".

As we all know, Sky dominates the UK sports TV market. However, BT is trying to compete against it, and last year secured the rights for Premier League football games for the 2013/14 through 2015/16 seasons.

However, it looks like not many people will know about BT's ramped-up sports coverage, as Sky is flat refusing to air the rival firm's ad campaign for it.

BT's sports coverage will kick off on 17 August, and the firm reportedly has planned a multimullion pound advertising campaign to be shown on TV ahead of the launch. Sky, however, has refused to air BT's ad campaign, a move that has forced the telecoms giant to lodge a complaint with UK communications watchdog Ofcom.

Speaking to The Guardian, John Petter, MD of consumer for BT Retail said, "We are happy to take Sky's advertising but they seem afraid of taking ours. It's like a rottweiler running away from a newborn puppy."

Sky said its decision is because it has invested lots of its own money into its own sports coverage, and doesn't want BT taking market share away from it.

A Sky spokesperson said, "There many other avenues for BT to advertise its sports channels without seeking to take advantage of the investments that we've made to build Sky Sports.

"It's entirely reasonable for us to choose not to carry advertising for a directly competing service."

Ofcom was not immediately available for comment, so it is unclear whether it will take any action against Sky. µ